Congress of Jewish Communities in Hungary Protests Against Numerus Clausus

The question of the Numerus Clausus, the law limiting the number of Jewish students at the Hungarian universities, was the main topic of discussion at the Congress of Hungarian Jewish Communities which opened here today.

Placards around the hall where the Congress was held, described the situation of the Jewish academic youth of Hungary in the following sentence: “Hungarian Jewish victims of Numerus Clausus starve and waste away in exile.”

Mr. Vaszonyi, formerly member of the Hungarian cabinet, in speaking about the situation of the Jews in Hungary stated, “The situation of the Jews in every country is the thermometer of the cultural standard of the nation; in countries where the Jews are being persecuted, hatred, darkness and backwardness prevail.”

The Hungarian government, in enforcing the Numerus Clausus went so far as to prohibit the collection of funds for the purpose of helping the victims of the Numerus Clausus who are forced to study abroad. The matter was brought to court and it was decided that collecting funds for the Jewish students is not a crime.